Cinema verite filmmaker Robert Drew dies at 90

Filmmaker Robert Drew, whose documentary work helped capture the lives of subjects who included John F. Kennedy and Jane Fonda, died Wednesday. He was 90.

Drew died shortly after midnight at his Sharon, Conn., residence, his daughter-in-law, Jill Drew, told the Los Angeles Times.

He died of natural causes, she said, adding that her father “was a fighter.”

The veteran filmmaker was one of the leaders of the cinema verite, or observational camera, movement in the United States. His film “Primary” gave viewers an intimate look at Kennedy’s pursuit of the presidency and was lauded around the world.

Drew spoke to the Los Angeles Times in 1993 about following Kennedy: “It was an election year, I wanted to do an election story and Kennedy simply appealed to me,” he said.

Drew produced more than 100 films, two of which are in the Library of Congress National Film Registry. One of his films, “The Chair,” garnered a Special Jury Prize at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival, the family said in a statement.

“Drew’s films pioneered a strict journalistic code that allowed no directing of subjects, no set-up shots, no on-camera narrator,” the statement read.

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